For many, the current and upcoming 911-related legislation is a bit confusing. Some compliance deadlines have already passed, others are upcoming, and there's general confusion around which of these deadlines affect you.

Even though many organizations aren't explicitly required to (yet), I strongly encourage everyone to minimally start with implementing on-site alerting. This is both the least expensive component and where the greatest enhancement to on-site safety and response is realized. Additionally, it's either mandatory now or will be for your organization in the not-so-distant future.

Getting the location information to the answering PSAP is important, no question. This information helps PSAPs and their responding agencies in determining where to respond to (especially important for large campuses, multiple location organizations, or multi-floor buildings). Especially when help is several minutes away already, routing responders to the correct area is absolutely critical in ensuring help is not delayed in any way.

But what about those who are in the best position to provide immediate assistance? The often under-appreciated reality is that help is already on-site and available. Whether it be your security, first-aid, or in reality, any staff, you already have resources on-site and ready to assist prior to first responders arriving. This help comes in the moments when it is most critical.

On-site staff are able to respond immediately, and are in a position where they can start providing care immediately. Additionally, staff can prepare access for first responders, and be ready to direct them efficiently to where the emergency is once on-site. These realities all dramatically improve response time both prior to, and once first-responder help has arrived on-site.

Contact Genesis Systems for more information on E911, immediate emergency on-site alerting, and the features available to help improve your on-site emergency responses. These solutions provide improvements in response time of several minutes, at a time when every second counts.

It's becoming more and more common for UC delivery to be either fully-cloud-based, or using a combination of hybrid/mixed solutions. While very few organizations are fully cloud, and most are relying on a number of different cloud and on-premises solutions for providing their overall UC solution.

Since last year's announcement of Avaya / RingCentral Strategic Partnership, many Avaya users' migration paths have shifted. Where Avaya-hosted IP Office or CM-based solutions may have been the logical, simple path before, there is uncertainty with the shift and just how RingCentral will fit into your overall UC solution, the potential complications, and how you'll manage everything.

The Good News is that you're not alone, and that you're covered with Genesis whether you're using Avaya, RingCentral, or a continuously changing combination of both.

We've designed our solutions with specific features for users of Avaya and RingCentral. Migrating to RingCentral is extremely simple for current or prospective Avaya (or other) system users - our solutions are feature rich and handle the day-to-day administration automatically. Genesis solutions are portable to the cloud as well, we can move your software to the cloud anytime. Contact us for more information.

Genesis Systems will be closed on Monday, October 11th for Remembrance Day.

Customers subscribed to our 24-7 support package are unaffected by holiday closures. 

Our office will re-open on Tuesday, October 12th with regular business hours.

Our Genesis GenAlert real-time 911 / lockdown alerting solution has been compatible with RingCentral (and Telus Business Connect) for some time now, and the user feedback has been very positive. As more and more users migrate to RingCentral-powered solutions, we're increasingly working more and more users with unique alerting and recording requirements.

RingCentral users, especially those either using or migrating away from on-premises systems, likely need some level of tracking, alerting, and recording for customer and staff safety and compliance with regulations. For some, the basic-type reporting may suffice, but in nearly all cases there is still a significant need for enhanced tools to handle the mass notification and emergency alerting needs.

A few of the unique needs our alerting solution has been able to fill:

• Enabling call recording automatically based on call criteria, with auto recording downloading and emailing after call completion
• Automatic location lookup / retrieval at the time of the emergency call (included in the alerts)
• Real-Time, Multi-Path alerts (emails, SMS, Glip, overhead audible, etc.) customized for different types of emergencies
• Extensive location filtering for separate buildings, floors, addresses, etc. based on extension location
• Real-time conferencing / supervision in of security staff for emergency calls (presently testing)

These are just a few of the unique requirements we've been able to accommodate to date.

When adding in our call tracking and reporting solution, the overall solution provides the most comprehensive reporting, tracking, and alerting solution for RingCentral users of any size.

Contact Genesis for more information on our RingCentral-compatible solutions and how we can help you meet your custom requirements! 

Genesis Systems will be closed on Monday, October 14th for Thanksgiving.

Customers subscribed to our 24-7 support package are unaffected by holiday closures. 

Our office will re-open on Tuesday, October 15th with regular business hours.

On behalf of all us at Genesis we'd like to wish all a happy and safe Canada Day weekend! 

Our offices will be closed on Monday July 1 and we will be resuming normal business hours on Tuesday July 2. Customers subscribed to our 24/7 support package are unaffected by holiday closures. 

Happy Birthday Canada!

We are very excited to announce the release of GenAlert Real-Time 9-1-1 & Emergency Alerting Solution for RingCentral!

GenAlert is an emergency on-site notification solution which detects the moment an emergency call is made (or lockdown/alert code is entered into a telephone) and dispatches alerts to your staff in real-time (including email, SMS, on-screen alerts, speech, strobe / light or siren activation, and more). GenAlert includes location information, floor plans and other visual aids in alerts to assist staff in locating and dealing with the emergency as quickly as possible.

GenAlert can be deployed as a hosted / cloud-only solution or with additional on-site survivability, and is fully customizable based on your needs. GenAlert is compatible with most common telephone systems, and complements our other RingCentral-compatible solutions.

Contact Genesis to find out more, and check out our listing in the RingCentral App Gallery! 

GenAlert - RingCentral App Gallery

As many RingCentral users quickly realize, call reporting isn't as real-time or accurate as they'd like. Daily call logs are not available until the following day, and the built-in reporting can show issues (e.g. excessive missed calls) which aren't actually occurring but are a result of having more unique installations. Users are increasingly contacting us as their need for timely access to accurate information is not being fulfilled.

We've not only identified the issues that cause most users frustration, but have designed our reporting from the ground up to avoid these issues entirely, while handling the unique challenges of the RingCentral system. The interfaces available to developers - while powerful and reliable - aren't designed for ongoing data collection & reporting like what a typical Call Accounting / Tracking solution would use, and because of this, require an entirely differently designed solution.

The available interfaces however allow for features which are not possible in standard Call Accounting solutions. Some of these reduce the amount of direct administration necessary, others provide access to more timely information, and improve staff safety.

Anyone familiar with RingCentral's built-in reporting will appreciate the flexible reporting and report delivery options built-in to our fully RingCentral-designed solution. Contact us to see how Genesis Call Accounting for RingCentral improves your business oversight, safety, and ultimately, performance. 

RingCentral just updated our app page link - should be a bit easier to find us now!

https://www.ringcentral.com/apps/genesis-call-accounting

Most software includes some form of an annual support option to provide you with periodic updates and access to technical support when the need arises. Subscribe to annual support is not much of a decision for many of us - the software was purchased to fill a void (e.g. business analytics, emergency notification, etc.), and it just needs to work.

We subscribe to annual support so help is there when we need it.

Have you looked closely at your support coverage and terms though? There are always limitations, and the biggest ones may not be obvious until you encounter them. Many will leave you wondering what your support actually covers. We've all been there. A few examples of services and items I've seen other manufacturers charge additional fees for:

• Software installation & re-installation (or moving the software to a new PC)
• Phone equipment changes (e.g. changing or upgrading your phone equipment)
• Software training
• Physical copies of software & updates

Do these not seem like opportunities to up-sell you on services you believed were included with your support in the first place? Since you're under annual support, shouldn't you at least have access to the necessary support so you can continue to use your existing software?

We think so. It's a simple, yet illusive concept, and is one we strongly believe in.